Bill Text: NY A07127 | 2021-2022 | General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Provides for certain commercial small businesses to be eligible for relief under the "COVID-19 Emergency Protect Our Small Businesses Act of 2021".
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 5-0)
Status: (Passed) 2021-06-17 - signed chap.154 [A07127 Detail]
Download: New_York-2021-A07127-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 7127 2021-2022 Regular Sessions IN ASSEMBLY April 23, 2021 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. BRONSON -- read once and referred to the Commit- tee on Judiciary AN ACT to amend a chapter of the laws of 2021 relating to establishing the "COVID-19 Emergency Protect Our Small Businesses Act of 2021", in relation to providing for certain commercial small businesses to be eligible for relief under the "COVID-19 Emergency Protect Our Small Businesses Act of 2021" The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Section 3 of a chapter of the laws of 2021 relating to 2 establishing the "COVID-19 Emergency Protect Our Small Businesses Act of 3 2021", as proposed in legislative bills numbers S. 471-A and A. 3207, is 4 amended to read as follows: 5 § 3. Legislative intent. The Legislature finds and declares all of the 6 following: 7 On March 7, 2020, Governor Andrew Cuomo proclaimed a state of emergen- 8 cy in response to the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. Measures 9 necessary to contain the spread of COVID-19 have brought about wide- 10 spread economic and societal disruption, placing the state of New York 11 in unprecedented circumstances. 12 COVID-19 presents a historic threat to small businesses and commercial 13 property owners. Thousands of small businesses and commercial property 14 owners are facing eviction or foreclosure due to necessary disease 15 control measures that closed or restricted businesses across the state. 16 The pandemic has further interrupted court operations, the availability 17 of counsel, the ability for parties to pay for counsel, and the ability 18 to safely commute and enter a courtroom, settlement conference and the 19 like. 20 Ensuring small businesses and commercial property owners can survive 21 in this unprecedented time is to the mutual benefit of all New Yorkers 22 and will help the state address the pandemic, protect public health, and EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD07084-06-1A. 7127 2 1 set the stage for recovery. It is, therefore, the intent of this legis- 2 lation to avoid as many evictions and foreclosures of small businesses 3 as possible for businesses experiencing a financial hardship during the 4 COVID-19 pandemic. 5 As such, it is necessary to temporarily allow small businesses 6 impacted by COVID-19 to remain in their place of business. A limited, 7 temporary stay is necessary to protect the public health, safety and 8 morals of the people the Legislature represents from the dangers of the 9 COVID-19 emergency pandemic. 10 § 2. Section 1 of part A of a chapter of the laws of 2021 relating to 11 establishing the "COVID-19 Emergency Protect Our Small Businesses Act of 12 2021", as proposed in legislative bills numbers S. 471-A and A. 3207, is 13 amended to read as follows: 14 Section 1. Definitions. For the purposes of this act: 1. "Eviction 15 proceeding" means a summary proceeding to recover possession of real 16 property under article seven of the real property actions and 17 proceedings law relating to a commercial unit or any other judicial or 18 administrative proceeding to recover possession of real property relat- 19 ing to a commercial unit. 20 2. "Landlord" includes a landlord, owner of a commercial property and 21 any other person with a legal right to pursue eviction, possessory 22 action or a money judgment for rent, including arrears, owed or that 23 becomes due during the COVID-19 covered period, as defined in section 1 24 of chapter 127 of the laws of 2020. 25 3. "Tenant" includes a commercial tenant that is a resident of the 26 state, independently owned and operated, not dominant in its field and 27 either employs [fifty] one hundred or fewer persons, or, the commercial 28 tenant's business was closed to in-person operations by executive order 29 or department of health directive for two or more weeks between May 15, 30 2020 and May 1, 2021, and employs five hundred or fewer persons. 31 4. "Hardship declaration" means the following statement, or a substan- 32 tially equivalent statement in the language in which the commercial 33 lease or tenancy agreement was written or negotiated, in 14-point type, 34 published by the office of court administration, whether in physical or 35 electronic written form: 36 "NOTICE TO COMMERCIAL TENANT: If you have lost significant revenue or 37 had significantly increased necessary costs during the COVID-19 pandem- 38 ic, and you sign and deliver this hardship declaration form to your 39 landlord, you cannot be evicted until at least May 1, 2021 for nonpay- 40 ment of rent or for holding over after the expiration of your lease. You 41 may still be evicted for violating your lease by persistently and unrea- 42 sonably engaging in behavior that substantially infringes on the use and 43 enjoyment of other tenants or occupants or causes a substantial safety 44 hazard to others. 45 If your landlord has provided you with this form, your landlord must 46 also provide you with a mailing address and e-mail address to which you 47 can return this form. If your landlord has already started an eviction 48 proceeding against you, you can return this form to either your land- 49 lord, the court, or both at any time. You should keep a copy or picture 50 of the signed form for your records. You will still owe any unpaid rent 51 to your landlord. [You should also] To the extent you can pay less than 52 the full rent, it is recommended you do so and keep careful track of 53 what you have paid and any amount you still owe. 54 COMMERCIAL TENANT'S DECLARATION OF HARDSHIP DURING THE 55 COVID-19 PANDEMICA. 7127 3 1 I am the owner, chief executive officer, president, or similar officer 2 of (name of business), in which is a commercial tenant at (address of 3 commercial unit). My business is resident in New York state, independ- 4 ently owned and operated, not dominant in its field, and either employs 5 [fifty] one hundred or fewer persons, or, the commercial business was 6 closed to in-person operations by executive order or department of 7 health directive for two or more weeks between May 15, 2020 and May 1, 8 2021, and employs five hundred or fewer persons. My business is experi- 9 encing financial hardship, and is unable to pay the rent in full or 10 other financial obligations under the lease in full or obtain an alter- 11 native suitable commercial property because of one or more of the 12 following: 13 1. Significant loss of revenue during the COVID-19 pandemic. 14 2. Significant increase in necessary expenses related to providing 15 personal protective equipment to employees or purchasing and installing 16 other protective equipment to prevent the transmission of COVID-19 with- 17 in the business. 18 3. Moving expenses and difficulty in securing an alternative commer- 19 cial property make it a hardship for the business to relocate to another 20 location during the COVID-19 pandemic. 21 To the extent the business has lost revenue or had increased expenses, 22 any public assistance the business has received since the start of the 23 COVID-19 pandemic [does] must not fully make up for the business's loss 24 of revenue or increased expenses, and the business still meets the 25 aforementioned eligibility criteria to qualify for a financial hardship. 26 I understand that the business must comply with all other lawful terms 27 under its commercial tenancy, lease agreement or similar contract. I 28 further understand that lawful fees, penalties or interest for not 29 having paid rent in full or met other financial obligations as required 30 by the commercial tenancy, lease agreement or similar contract may still 31 be charged or collected and may result in a monetary judgment. I 32 further understand that the landlord may be able to seek eviction after 33 May 1, 2021, and that the law may provide certain protections at that 34 time that are separate from those available through this declaration. 35 Signed: 36 Printed name: 37 Date signed: 38 NOTICE: You are signing and submitting this form under penalty of law. 39 That means it is against the law to make a statement on this form that 40 you know is false." 41 § 3. Sections 1 and 2 of subpart A of part B of a chapter of the laws 42 of 2021 relating to establishing the "COVID-19 Emergency Protect Our 43 Small Businesses Act of 2021", as proposed in legislative bills numbers 44 S. 471-A and A. 3207, are amended to read as follows: 45 Section 1. Application. This section shall apply to any action to 46 foreclose a mortgage relating to commercial real property, provided the 47 owner or mortgagor of such property owns ten or fewer commercial units 48 whether directly or indirectly and is a business that is resident in New 49 York State, independently owned and operated, not dominant in its field, 50 and either employs [fifty] one hundred or fewer persons, or, the commer- 51 cial tenant's business was closed to in-person operations by executive 52 order or department of health directive for two or more weeks between 53 May 15, 2020 and May 1, 2021, and employs five hundred or fewer persons.A. 7127 4 1 The ten or fewer commercial units may be in more than one property or 2 building as long as the total aggregate number of ten units are current- 3 ly occupied by a tenant or are available for rent. 4 Notwithstanding anything to the contrary, this act shall not apply to, 5 and does not affect any mortgage loans made, insured, purchased or secu- 6 ritized by a corporate governmental agency of the state constituted as a 7 political subdivision and public benefit corporation, or the rights and 8 obligations of any lender, issuer, servicer or trustee of such obli- 9 gations. 10 § 2. Definitions. For the purposes of this act, "Hardship Declaration" 11 means the following statement in 14-point type, published by the office 12 of court administration, whether in physical or electronic written form: 13 "NOTICE TO COMMERCIAL MORTGAGOR: If you have lost significant revenue 14 or had significantly increased necessary costs during the COVID-19 15 pandemic, and you sign and deliver this hardship declaration form to 16 your mortgage lender or other foreclosing party, you cannot be fore- 17 closed on until at least May 1, 2021. 18 If your mortgage lender or other foreclosing party provided you with 19 this form, the mortgage lender or other foreclosing party must also 20 provide you with a mailing address and e-mail address to which you can 21 return this form. If you are already in foreclosure proceedings, you may 22 return this form to the court. You should keep a copy or picture of the 23 signed form for your records. You will still owe any unpaid mortgage 24 payments and lawful fees to your lender. You should also keep careful 25 track of what you have paid and any amount you still owe. 26 COMMERCIAL MORTGAGOR'S DECLARATION OF COVID-19-RELATED HARDSHIP 27 I am the owner, chief executive officer, president, or similar officer 28 of (name of the business), which is the mortgagor of the property at 29 (address of commercial unit). My business owns, whether directly or 30 indirectly, ten or fewer commercial units. My business is resident in 31 New York State, independently owned and operated, not dominant in its 32 field, and either employs [fifty] one hundred or fewer persons, or, the 33 commercial business was closed to in-person operations by executive 34 order or department of health directive for two or more weeks between 35 May 15, 2020, and May 1, 2021, and employs five hundred or fewer 36 persons. My business is experiencing financial hardship and is unable to 37 pay the mortgage in full because of one or more of the following: 38 1. Significant loss of revenue during the COVID-19 pandemic. 39 2. Significant increase in necessary expenses related to providing 40 personal protective equipment to employees or purchasing and installing 41 other protective equipment to prevent the transmission of COVID-19 with- 42 in the business. 43 3. Moving expenses and difficulty in securing an alternative commer- 44 cial property make it a hardship for the business to relocate to another 45 property during the COVID-19 pandemic. 46 4. One or more of the business's tenants has defaulted on a signif- 47 icant amount of their rent payments since March 1, 2020. 48 To the extent that the business has lost revenue or had increased 49 expenses, any public assistance the business has received since the 50 start of the COVID-19 pandemic does not fully make up for the business's 51 loss of revenue or increased expenses. 52 I understand that the business must comply with all other lawful terms 53 under my commercial mortgage agreement. I further understand that lawful 54 fees, penalties or interest for not having paid the mortgage in full as 55 required by the commercial mortgage agreement may still be charged or 56 collected and may result in a monetary judgment. I also understand thatA. 7127 5 1 the mortgage lender or other foreclosing party may pursue a foreclosure 2 action against the business on or after May 1, 2021, if I do not fully 3 repay any missed or partial payments and lawful fees. 4 Signed: 5 Printed Name: 6 Date Signed: 7 NOTICE: You are signing and submitting this form under penalty of law. 8 That means it is against the law to make a statement on this form that 9 you know is false." 10 § 4. Sections 1 and 2 of subpart B of part B of a chapter of the laws 11 of 2021 relating to establishing the "COVID-19 Emergency Protect Our 12 Small Businesses Act of 2021", as proposed in legislative bills numbers 13 S. 471-A and A. 3207, are amended to read as follows: 14 Section 1. Application. This act shall apply to any action to fore- 15 close on delinquent taxes or sell a tax lien relating to commercial real 16 property, provided the owner or mortgagor of such property owns ten or 17 fewer commercial units whether directly or indirectly and is a business 18 that is resident in New York State, independently owned and operated, 19 not dominant in its field, and either employs [fifty] one hundred or 20 fewer persons, or, the commercial business was closed to in-person oper- 21 ations by executive order or department of health directive for two or 22 more weeks between May 15, 2020 and May 1, 2021, and employs five 23 hundred or fewer persons. The ten or fewer commercial units may be in 24 more than one property or building as long as the units are currently 25 occupied by a tenant or are available for rent. 26 § 2. Definitions. For purposes of this act: 1. "Tax lien" means an 27 unpaid tax, special ad valorem levy, special assessment or other charge 28 imposed upon real property by or on behalf of a municipal corporation or 29 special district or other public or private entity which is an encum- 30 brance on real property, whether or not evidenced by a written instru- 31 ment. 32 2. "Tax foreclosure and tax lien sale" shall mean any such tax lien 33 sale or tax foreclosure pursuant to article 11 of the real property tax 34 law, or any general, special or local law related to real property tax 35 lien sales or real property tax foreclosures. 36 3. "Hardship Declaration" means the following statement in 14-point 37 type, whether in physical or electronic written form: 38 "COMMERCIAL OWNER DECLARATION OF COVID-19-RELATED HARDSHIP 39 I am the owner, chief executive officer, president, or similar officer 40 of (name of the business), which is the owner of the commercial property 41 at (address). My business owns, whether directly or indirectly, ten or 42 fewer commercial units. My business is resident in New York State, 43 independently owned and operated, not dominant in its field, and either 44 employs [fifty] one hundred or fewer persons, or, the commercial busi- 45 ness was closed to in-person operations by executive order or department 46 of health directive for two or more weeks between May 15, 2020 and May 47 1, 2021, and employs five hundred or fewer persons. My business is expe- 48 riencing financial hardship, and is unable to pay its full tax bill 49 because of one or more of the following: 50 1. Significant loss of revenue during the COVID-19 pandemic. 51 2. Significant increase in necessary expenses related to providing 52 personal protective equipment to employees or purchasing and installing 53 other protective equipment to prevent the transmission of COVID-19 with- 54 in the business.A. 7127 6 1 3. Moving expenses and difficulty in securing an alternative commer- 2 cial property make it a hardship for the business to relocate to another 3 property during the COVID-19 pandemic. 4 4. One or more of the business's tenants has defaulted on a signif- 5 icant amount of their rent payments since March 1, 2020. 6 To the extent that the business has lost revenue or had increased 7 expenses, any public assistance that the business has received since the 8 start of the COVID-19 pandemic [does] must not fully make up for the 9 loss of revenue or increased expenses, and the business still meets the 10 aforementioned eligibility criteria to qualify for a financial hardship. 11 I understand that lawful fees, penalties or interest for not having 12 paid the business's taxes in full may still be charged or collected and 13 may result in a foreclosure action against the business on or after May 14 1, 2021, if the business does not fully repay any missed or partial 15 payments and fees. 16 Signed: 17 Printed Name: 18 Date Signed: 19 NOTICE: You are signing and submitting this form under penalty of law. 20 That means it is against the law to make a statement on this form that 21 you know is false." 22 § 5. Section 1 of subpart C of part B of a chapter of the laws of 2021 23 relating to establishing the "COVID-19 Emergency Protect Our Small Busi- 24 nesses Act of 2021", as proposed in legislative bills numbers S. 471-A 25 and A. 3207, is amended to read as follows: 26 Section 1. Application. 1. This act shall apply to an owner of commer- 27 cial real property, provided the owner or mortgagor of such property 28 owns ten or fewer commercial units whether directly or indirectly and is 29 a business that is resident in New York State, independently owned and 30 operated, not dominant in its field, and either employs [fifty] one 31 hundred or fewer persons, or, the commercial business was closed to 32 in-person operations by executive order or department of health direc- 33 tive for two or more weeks between May 15, 2020 and May 1, 2021, and 34 employs five hundred or fewer persons. The ten or fewer commercial units 35 may be in more than one property or building as long as the total aggre- 36 gate number of ten units are currently occupied by a tenant or are 37 available for rent. 38 2. Hardship declaration. For purposes of this act, "hardship declara- 39 tion" shall mean the following statement in 14-point type, whether in 40 physical or electronic written form, and the department of financial 41 services shall publish a copy of the hardship declaration on its 42 website: 43 "NOTICE TO COMMERCIAL OWNER/MORTGAGOR: If you have lost significant 44 revenue or had significantly increased necessary costs due to the 45 COVID-19 pandemic, and you sign and deliver this hardship declaration 46 form to your lending institution, you cannot be discriminated against in 47 the determination of whether credit should be extended or reported nega- 48 tively to a credit reporting agency until at least May 1, 2021. 49 If a lending institution provided you with this form, the lending 50 institution must also provide you with a mailing address and e-mail 51 address to which you can return this form. You should keep a copy or 52 picture of the signed form for your records. 53 COMMERCIAL OWNER/MORTGAGOR DECLARATION OF COVID-19-RELATED HARDSHIP 54 I am the owner, chief executive officer, president, or similar officer 55 of (name of the business), which is the OWNER/MORTGAGOR of the property 56 at (address of commercial unit). My business owns, whether directly orA. 7127 7 1 indirectly, ten or fewer commercial units. My business is resident in 2 New York State, independently owned and operated, not dominant in its 3 field, and either employs [fifty] one hundred or fewer persons, or, the 4 commercial business was closed to in-person operations by executive 5 order or department of health directive for two or more weeks between 6 May 15, 2020 and May 1, 2021, and employs five hundred or fewer persons. 7 My business is experiencing financial hardship, and is unable to pay the 8 mortgage in full because of one or more of the following: 9 1. Significant loss of revenue during the COVID-19 pandemic. 10 2. Significant increase in necessary out-of-pocket expenses related to 11 providing personal protective equipment to employees or purchasing and 12 installing other protective equipment to prevent the transmission of 13 COVID-19 within the business. 14 3. Moving expenses and difficulty in securing an alternative commer- 15 cial property make it a hardship for the business to relocate to another 16 commercial property during the COVID-19 pandemic. 17 4. One or more of my tenants has defaulted on a significant amount of 18 their rent payments since March 1, 2020. 19 To the extent that the business has lost revenue or had increased 20 expenses, any public assistance that the business has received since the 21 start of the COVID-19 pandemic [does] must not fully make up for the 22 loss of revenue or increased expenses, and the business still meets the 23 aforementioned eligibility criteria to qualify for a financial hardship. 24 Signed: 25 Printed Name: 26 Date Signed: 27 NOTICE: You are signing and submitting this form under penalty of law. 28 That means it is against the law to make a statement on this form that 29 you know is false." 30 3. Discrimination in credit decisions. Notwithstanding any law to the 31 contrary, lending institutions shall not discriminate in the determi- 32 nation of whether credit should be extended to any owner of commercial 33 real property as defined in subdivision one of this section because, as 34 provided for in this act, such owner has been granted a stay of mortgage 35 foreclosure proceedings, tax foreclosure proceedings or of tax lien 36 sales, or that an owner of commercial real property as defined in subdi- 37 vision one of this section is currently in arrears and has filed a hard- 38 ship declaration with such lender. 39 4. Prohibition on negative credit reporting. Notwithstanding any law 40 to the contrary, as provided for in this act, the granting of a stay of 41 mortgage foreclosure proceedings, tax foreclosure proceedings or tax 42 lien sales, or that an owner of commercial real property as defined in 43 subdivision one of this section is currently in arrears and has filed a 44 hardship declaration with their lender shall not be negatively reported 45 to any credit reporting agency. 46 § 6. This act shall take effect on the same date and in the same 47 manner as a chapter of the laws of 2021, relating to establishing the 48 "COVID-19 Emergency Protect Our Small Businesses Act of 2021", as 49 proposed in legislative bills numbers S. 471-A and A. 3207, takes 50 effect; provided that the amendments to section 1 of part A, sections 1 51 and 2 of subpart A of part B, sections 1 and 2 of subpart B of part B, 52 and section 1 of subpart C of part B of a chapter of the laws of 2021, 53 relating to establishing the "COVID-19 Emergency Protect Our Small 54 Businesses Act of 2021", as proposed in legislative bills numbers 55 S. 471-A and A. 3207, made by sections two, three, four and five ofA. 7127 8 1 this act, respectively, shall not affect the expiration of such sections 2 and shall be deemed expired therewith.
